Narrow elastic fabric and method of making the same

ABSTRACT

A narrow elastic fabric having a center portion having elasticity in both the longitudinal and transverse directions of the fabric and a pair of side portions. The side portions form the longitudinal edges of the fabric and have elasticity in only the longitudinal direction of the fabric. A method for manufacturing such a narrow elastic fabric by weaving elastic filling yarns in the center portion of the fabric and non-elastic filling yarns in each edge or side portion of the fabric.

United States Patent Schiappa et al.

[54] NARROW ELASTIC FABRIC AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME [72] Inventors:Antonio Schiappa, Pawtucket; Richard E.

Goff, Harrington, both of RI.

[73] Assignee: Johnson & Johnson [22] Filed: June 26, 1970 [21] Appl.No.: 50,126

52 US. Cl ..139/422 [51] Int. Cl. ..D03d 15/08 [58] Field ofSearch..l39/420, 421, 422

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,030,893 6/1912 Kops139/422 2,661,776 12/1953 Gamber et al. ..l39/421 51 May 16, 1972Primary Examiner-Henry S. Jaudon Attorney-Alexander T. Kardos and RobertL. Minier [57] ABSTRACT A narrow elastic fabric having a center portionhaving elasticity in both the longitudinal and transverse directions ofthe fabric and a pair of side portions. The side portions form thelongitudinal edges of the fabric and have elasticity in only thelongitudinal direction of the fabric. A method for manufacturing such anarrow elastic fabric by weaving elastic filling yarns in the centerportion of the fabric and non-elastic filling yarns in each edge or sideportion of the fabric.

5 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures Patented May 16, 1972 3,662,787

lNVENT R5 Ham/e02 00- A/vro m Sc MA /4 av A RNEY fabric and onlylongitudinal stretch in other portionsof the fabric and methods formanufacturing such fabrics.

Narrow elastic fabrics areused inithe-manufactureyof various types ofgarments'They aregenerally used as waist-bands, leg bands, etc. invarious garmentssuch as trousers,\.womens foundation garments, etc. Inmany of these uses, itis desirable that the narrow fabric not onlyhave-anelasticity in the longitudinal direction of the fabric, but alsohave some. elasticity in the transverse direction of the fabric to allowfor movement by the wearer of the piece of apparel.

Longitudinal stretch in the fabric allows forgood fit of the garmentaround the waist, or legs, or other encircling portions of the garment.The transverse stretch is useful to provide freedom of movement to thewearer as itrallows the fabricto stretch when placed invarying positionsby the-.wearerJ-Narrow elastic fabrics which have only longitudinalstretch may be readily affixed to the base material or base pieceof'wearing apparel by sewing, etc. andwill form a smoothtseamwhichremains so during use.

In those instances where both longitudinaland transverse stretch are,required, this may be accomplished by using two different types offabric; i.e., onethat has longitudinal stretch and one that hastransverse stretch. Where such properties'are required and two fabricsarefused thecost of the final product is increased because of theextracost of, one ormore sewing operations and also the extremecare whichmustbe taken to align all of the pieces of material and formsmooth'seams between each piece in the final garment.

l have discovered a narrow elasticfabric ,which has both longitudinalstretch portions and portions .whichhave both longitudinal andtransverse stretch. My new fabric allows for affixation to the basefabric in a single operation and provides smooth, encircling portionsand while also allowing movement in the desired areas of the finalgarment. Hence, not,only. is. my new fabric more economical to producein its use in1that it only requires one operationto be affixed tosthegarment,'.but also provides a smoother, neatenportion intthefinalgarment due to its unitary construction.

In accordance with the present invention, my narrow elastic fabriccomprises a center, portion extendinglongitudinally of the fabric whichhas elasticity in both thelongitudinal and transverse directions of thefabric. Along each side of the center portion and formingthelongitudinal edgesof the fabric are side portions whichhaveelasticity inonly thelongitudinal direction of the fabric.

My new and improved elastic fabricis made'-by-weaving a set ofelastic-warp yarns with a combination of elastic and-nonelastic fillingyarns. The fabric-is woveniby usinga'beamof elastic warp yarns. Anon-elastic warp yam-isfed from cones at each edge of the beam to form asetof elasticwarp'yarns with a non-elastic yarn at each edge. Astandardlelastiofilling yarn on a shuttle is used in theweavingoperation. The warp yarns are positioned so as to form a shedasin a standard weaving operation and the shuttle passes through thisshed. When the shuttle reaches the-edge of the warp set,the e'lasticwarp yarns-in the center portionofthe beam are'reversedto form anothershed as in a standard weaving operation. The warp yarns in the sideportionthrough which the shuttle has just passed are not reversed withthe exception'that'the edge non-elastic warp yarn is reversed. Theshuttle isthen passed through this new shed. The shuttlegripsthenon-elasticwarp yarn and pulls it from the coneinsertingit as afilling'yamin the side portion of the warp yarns. The elastic filling-yam on the shuttle is inserted in the center portion of thewarp yarnsand the shuttlecarried to the other side or-edgeofthe warp beam. Again,the center warp yarns are reversed to form another shed and the warpyarns in the side portion through which the shuttle has just passed, arenot reversedwith the-exception of theedge non-elasticwarpyam.The'shuttle encircles the non-elastic yarn, pulling it from thetconeandinserting it as a filling yarn in'iltheside' portion -of the-warpyarns and again inserting the elastic yarn from 'the shuttle as thefilling yarn in the center portion of theswarp yamsand so forth. Thisoperation forms a narrow elastic fabric wherein the filling yarns in'the central-portion'areelasticand the filling yarns in the two edge or.side portionsarenon-elastic.

The inventionwill bedescribed in furtherdetail when taken 1 inconjunction with the following drawings-and the. descriptionthereofi-wherein;

."FlG.'1l is-a planviewofa fabric according to the present inventionand,

FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematicview of a portion of the narrowelasticwoven fabric in accordance with the present invention.

:Referringto the drawings in. FlGxl; there is shown a narrowelastic'fabrici 10. :The fabric-has a. center, portion 1 1. extendinglongitudinally of thefabric. Thezcenter portion comprises interwovenwarpyams llandifilling yarns :13 with'both the warp and filling yarnsbeing elasticso that the center portion is .elastic in. both.the'longitu'dinahand transversecdirections of the fabric. Along eachside of the longitudinally extending portion is a longitudinally.extending-side'portion 15: and 16 which tforms the edges of the. fabric.'The longitudinal side portions comprise interwoven warp.yarns:l7and.18and filling yarns :19 and '20vwith the.-warpvyams"beingelastic-andzthe'filling yarns beingnon-elastic-so'thelongitudinallyextending side portions only? haveelasticity inthe longitudinal direction of the fabric.

'Referringto:theenlargedzdepiction of the fabric 27 of the presentinvention shown inFIG. 2, there arethree sections; A,

B,.and.C, extending longitudinally of' the fabric. The warp yarns30intall threesectionsare elasticwarp yarns and are -substantiallyzthesame. The filling yarns 31 in Sections A and C; the :side sectionsof:thefabric, arelnonselastic, whereas the filling yarns 32 in'thecentersection-B,'are elastic yarns. The filling yarns in thesidesections, A, and C, as may be seen, are

portion of l the fabric. EThe fillingyarn inzthe center of a fabriccatchesthe filling yam on the leftorSection A of the fabric .andon-Section C- or the right side'ofthe fabric.

.In manufacturing my=new narrow elastic fabrics, .a standard narrowelastic'fabric loomis used. The'loom'is supplied with a warp-beamcontaining the desired number ofwarp yarns. This warp' beamisfed intothe loom as instandard procedures-Fed along with the'warp beamfromxaconelocated-inltheback of the loom is anon-elastic yarn. One such'nonelasticyarn is fed .at-each endof the-warpbeamsA standardshuttle is usedas in .astandard weaving operation. The shuttle is fed-nor supplied.with an elastic-filling yarn. As in standard weaving operations, :ashed is formedby .thewarp yarns with some -yarn s in an upper plane'andthe other yarnsin a lower'plane. The nonelastic yarn is placed' inone'of .the planes of the shed. The

shuttle passes throughtheshed .andtheshed is thenchanged;

thatis, the yamsin the .center section inithe-bottomplane areplacedinitheupper plane, .andthe yarnsin the uppenplane in thecenterportionare placed in the lower plane. The yarns in "thesideportions are not 'changed with 'the exceptionof the non-elastic'yarn in that portion of the fabric-along the side where the-shuttlehas-justpassed and'thisyarn isplacedin the -opposite:plane. The shuttlethenreturnsthroughthe new shed :and inserts the'endnon-elasticyarn as afilling'yarnin the side portion, through the shed to the point where theshed has changed. This actionplaces the end non-elastic yarn as adoublefilling yarn in that portion'of the fabric along theside. Theshuttle then passes through the center shed placing'the elastic fillingyarn and continues to the opposite edge of the fabric. Again, the shedis changed as described above and the procedure-repeated.

This motion changes-the shed in the center'p'ortion of the each sideportion of the fabric with every other pass of the shuttle. The changeof sheds in the side portions are alternated with respect to each otherso that the side portion shed does not change when the shuttle is on itsside except for the nonelastic yarn on that side.

Various types of yarns may be used in manufacturing the fabrics of thepresent invention. The warp yarns used in the fabric should all have thesame or substantially the same amount of elasticity and may be any ofthe various elastic warp yarns such as texturized yarns, elastic coreyarns covered with non-elastic fibers such as rubber cores, covered withcotton fibers, or spandex-type cores covered with synthetic fibers, etc.The filling yarns used in the center portion of the fabric may be any ofthe standard elastic filling yarns such as a rubber filling yarn oragain, an elastic core yarn covered with synthetic or other fibers andthe filling yarns of the edge portions of the fabric may be any of thenon-elastic filling yarns such as cotton yarns, nylon yarns, or othertypes of yarns.

The non-elastic fabric may be woven in widths of from onefourth inch upto 6 inches or more and have a yarn count varying over a wide range. Therelative sizes of the elastic and nonelastic areas may vary. In otherwords, the two edge or side portions may have the same size and may bethe same size as the elastic center portion, or the two edge portionsmay have the same size and be narrower or wider than the center portionor the two side portions may have different widths from each other.

Also, in my new fabric, any of the various types of selveges used innarrow elastic fabrics such as scalloped or fancy-type selveges may beused in my new fabrics. Also any of the surface pattern designs whichare common with some of the higher quality narrow elastic fabrics, mayalso be incorporated in my new fabrics.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown anddescribed in detail to illustrate the application of the principles ofthe invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodiedotherwise without departing from such principles.

We claim:

1. A narrow woven elastic fabric comprising a set of elastic warp yarnsextending longitudinally of the fabric and three filling yarnsinterwoven with said warp yarns, the first filling yarn being elasticand being interwoven with a portion of the warp yarns disposed in thecenter portion of the fabric and the other filling yarns beingnon-elastic and being interwoven with other portions of the warp yarns,one of said non-elastic filling yarns being interwoven in pairs with aportion of the warp yarns extending along the longitudinal edge of thefabric and the other non-elastic filling yarn being interwoven in pairswith another portion of the warp yarns disposed along the op positelongitudinal edge of the fabric, the elastic filling yarn in the centerportion of the fabric being interengaged with said other non-elasticfilling yarns to form an integral interwoven narrow elastic fabrichaving a center portion having elasticity in both the longitudinal andtransverse directions of the fabric and a pair of side portionsextending along the longitudinal edges of the fabric and havingelasticity only in the longitudinal direction of the fabric.

2. Fabric according to claim 1, wherein the elastic filling yarn is arubber yarn.

3. Fabric according to claim 1, wherein the non-elastic filling yarnsare nylon yarns.

4. Fabric according to claim 1, wherein the elastic filling yarn is arubber yarn and non-elastic filling yarns are nylon yarns.

5. A method of weaving a narrow elastic fabric having a center portionwhich is elastic in the longitudinal and transverse directions of thefabric and a pair of longitudinally extending side portions which areelastic only in the longitudinal direction of the fabric, comprising:

a. feeding a non-elastic yarn at each end of a beam of elastic warpyarns;

b. forming a first shed with said elastic warp yarns and saidnon-elastic yarns; c. inserting an elastic filling yarn on a shuttlethrough said first shed; d. reversing i. the non-elastic yarn in theside portion nearest the shuttle, ii. the warp yarns in the centerportion, and iii. the warp yarns in the side portion farthest from theshuttle, to form a second shed; e. returning the shuttle through saidsecond shed, whereby the non-elastic yarn is inserted as a filling yarnin the side portion of the elastic warp yarns and the filling yarn onthe shuttle is inserted in the center portion of the elastic warp yarns;and repeating steps (d) and (e) a plurality of times to weave saidnarrow elastic fabric.

l l i I

1. A narrow woven elastic fabric comprising a set of elastic warp yarnsextending longitudinally of the fabric and three filling yarnsinterwoven with saId warp yarns, the first filling yarn being elasticand being interwoven with a portion of the warp yarns disposed in thecenter portion of the fabric and the other filling yarns beingnon-elastic and being interwoven with other portions of the warp yarns,one of said non-elastic filling yarns being interwoven in pairs with aportion of the warp yarns extending along the longitudinal edge of thefabric and the other non-elastic filling yarn being interwoven in pairswith another portion of the warp yarns disposed along the oppositelongitudinal edge of the fabric, the elastic filling yarn in the centerportion of the fabric being interengaged with said other non-elasticfilling yarns to form an integral interwoven narrow elastic fabrichaving a center portion having elasticity in both the longitudinal andtransverse directions of the fabric and a pair of side portionsextending along the longitudinal edges of the fabric and havingelasticity only in the longitudinal direction of the fabric.
 2. Fabricaccording to claim 1, wherein the elastic filling yarn is a rubber yarn.3. Fabric according to claim 1, wherein the non-elastic filling yarnsare nylon yarns.
 4. Fabric according to claim 1, wherein the elasticfilling yarn is a rubber yarn and non-elastic filling yarns are nylonyarns.
 5. A method of weaving a narrow elastic fabric having a centerportion which is elastic in the longitudinal and transverse directionsof the fabric and a pair of longitudinally extending side portions whichare elastic only in the longitudinal direction of the fabric,comprising: a. feeding a non-elastic yarn at each end of a beam ofelastic warp yarns; b. forming a first shed with said elastic warp yarnsand said non-elastic yarns; c. inserting an elastic filling yarn on ashuttle through said first shed; d. reversing i. the non-elastic yarn inthe side portion nearest the shuttle, ii. the warp yarns in the centerportion, and iii. the warp yarns in the side portion farthest from theshuttle, to form a second shed; e. returning the shuttle through saidsecond shed, whereby the non-elastic yarn is inserted as a filling yarnin the side portion of the elastic warp yarns and the filling yarn onthe shuttle is inserted in the center portion of the elastic warp yarns;and f. repeating steps (d) and (e) a plurality of times to weave saidnarrow elastic fabric.